The Matchup
With a date in the Canadian Championship Semifinals against the current Voyageurs Cup holders Toronto FC on Tuesday, Ottawa Fury FC will first look to claim some crucial points on the road in the Big Apple on Saturday after having their six-game unbeaten streak halted last Saturday with a 1-0 loss at TD Place to the Pittsburgh Riverhounds.

Needing points to climb the USL standings, Ottawa will visit the defending USL Cup champions Saturday at MSU Soccer Park. While Red Bulls II might be the defenders of the USL Cup, they have lost back-to-back games and own the league’s worst defensive record.

Not long after wrapping up a run of five contests in 15 days, Fury FC will begin another busy stretch with another five matches coming in the next 16 days as the club’s depth, health and mental toughness will be tested.

While opportunities have come their way, Dalglish’s side has just five goals to start the USL campaign and will look to improve its conversation rate against New York. All five of Ottawa’s goals in USL action this season have come away from home where Fury FC are 1W-1D-2L and unbeaten in their last two road contests. On the plus side, Ottawa’s defence continues to look strong having conceded just three goals in its last four games with a pair of clean sheets.

After the defending champs opened their 2017 campaign with one win in their first four games (1W-1D-2L), New York went on a three-game unbeaten run (2W-1D-0L), before losing their last two matches.

Red Bulls II were handed a hard 5-1 loss by the Charlotte Independence on May 11 and then dropped a 2-1 decision against Los Angeles Galaxy II last Sunday. While New York has the second best offense in the Eastern Conference with 16 goals scored after nine games, the club has also the worse defence in the East with 18 goals allowed so far

Ottawa will have to keep an eye on Red Bulls II leading scorer, Vincent Bezecourt who is tied fourth in USL scoring, with 4 goals, and tied third for assists, with three.

Following Saturday's match in New York, Fury FC will return to TD Place to host Toronto FC in the first leg of the Canadian Championship Semifinals on May 23rd at 7 p.m.

Tickets for that game and all Fury FC matches are available at OttawaFuryFC.com, by calling 613.232.6767 X1 or in person at The Box Office at TD Place.

What they're saying:Fury FC GM and Head Coach, Paul Dalglish:
“We have to focus on the league now. We’ve rotated a lot with all those games in a short period of time, but now we want to start playing a more settled team. We’ve had our first real week of training in a while and we worked on our offence. Doesn’t matter who we’re facing, we want to start scoring goals while keeping our defensive shape.”

Fury FC Defender, Ramon Martin Del Campo:
“This game is vital for us. We need to start accumulating points in the league. I don’t believe that our current position in the standings truly shows how good we are. We are a much better squad that our record shows. Against the defending champions, we have a chance to send a message to the league. We have a big game coming up against Toronto next Tuesday, but we want to get a good result in New York to come back home in full confidence.”

Fury FC Defender, Andrae Campbell:
“I'm really excited to be eligible to play with my teammates again. I enjoy going to war with the boys. It was hard to watch the last games from the stands knowing that I couldn’t t do anything to help. New York is a good young team and can’t be taken lightly. We have to impose our style of play and make sure we are successful in both boxes while giving them little time on the ball to think.”